Lumariae
by Orime
Summary: Lumariae is a Draenei anchorite. This is the story of her turbulent journey from Argus to Azeroth.
1. Chapter 1

Lumariae half skipped, half ran along the path, giggling to herself all the while. She still had a large grin when she stopped suddenly and jumped down to her knees, fingers exploring the gemstones making up the edge of the pavement. She traced the outline of each stone with a finger, inspecting their shapes, colours and textures one by one.

"I liiike… you, and you, aaand you!" she announced to her chosen stones, pointing at each one in turn.

She pulled a roll of paper and a stick of charcoal out of a pouch at her waist, dropping the charcoal which then snapped into two pieces. She hurriedly picked one of those pieces up and began to sketch.

"I like you because you're a kind of triangle shape," she informed the first stone, attempting to capture this feature on her paper. The lines were a bit wobbly, and one corner was a smudgy mess where she'd repeatedly rubbed it out with her hand and redrawn it, but she was pleased with her work.

"I like you because you're nice and green," she told the second stone. She paused for a moment, wondering how to represent that with her black charcoal. Eventually she settled for vaguely drawing the shape with the word "green" written in the centre.

The third stone had been badly chipped, perhaps where something heavy had been dropped. There was a chunk missing, and thin cracks radiated out from the centre of the gap.

"And I like you because you're shaped like a bee!" she declared. To her mind the chip took the form of a multi-segmented insect, and the cracks looked like legs and wings. She drew the stone as best she could, helpfully writing "bee" next to her attempt.

Giggling once more, she hastily stuffed the paper and pieces of charcoal back into her pouch and scrambled to her hooves. She then ran back the way she had come to show Almas her work.

She came skidding into Almas' workshop to find him hunched over one of the workbenches. He wore a heavy pair of goggles with multiple lenses he could swivel in and out of place. When he looked at her with those on it always made his eyes look huge, which always made her laugh.

She wandered about the room inspecting his works while she waited on him to finish his current task. There were many kinds of jewels and stones in various states of cutting, carving and buffing. She found a collection of small stone animals and rearranged them around a flat, blue gem so they could all have a drink.

"You're back too quickly, little one," Almas said in exasperation behind her. "I was hoping for more time before you were back messing the place up again!"

His tone was light and joking, and a hand reached out to tickle her which she gleefully swatted away.

"Come then, show me what you found!" He motioned for her to join him at a small table, grabbing her a stool. She had to jump to get up on it, and her legs had plenty of space to swing.

She pulled the paper back out of her pouch. It had become quite crumpled and the charcoal pieces had made new smudges in the bag, but she proudly presented it to him, and he took it from her with the appropriate reverence.

"You have an eye for colour, shape _and_ design. This is good!"

Lumariae felt herself swell with pride. When she grew up, she wanted to carve beautiful decorations out of gem stones just like Almas. She was too young to become a true apprentice, but he had been teaching her some basic things in the meantime.

"Your drawings will get better with practice, but even now I can see what you were trying to do. Now that you've collected some ideas you like, would you like to help me make something?"

She leapt down from the seat, sending it sprawling, "Please, please, please!"

They worked together for a few hours that day. Almas drew up the plans for the design, consulting her throughout. After considering her sketches they chose a pretty green stone made of a softer material that would be easier to shape, and they decided they would make a simple triangle.

Lumariae returned each day to continue working on her masterpiece. Almas cut the general shape for her since she was too little to use those tools by herself, but then she used a selection of wetted files and sandpapers to fine tune the shape and smooth the surfaces.

And then she was finished at last. She had rounded the corners to make everything nice and smooth, and in the end it was small enough to fit inside the closed fist of even her small hands. She wondered if she could make it into a necklace. It would be her treasure, and one day she would unlock its magical properties and find out that she'd been magical herself all along, and that would be really cool…

"Can I see it?" Almas asked, stretching a hand towards her.

"Be careful, I think it might be magical," she informed him as she handed it over.

He chuckled softly. "Of that I have no doubt. This little stone contains some of your imagination, and a lot of your patience and hard work. There is no stronger magic than that."

He turned it over with his fingers, feeling over each surface with his thumb. Then he held it between thumb and forefinger to inspect it closely with a handheld magnifying glass.

"A fantastic first attempt!" he declared. "You've been very careful, it's all smooth and I don't see any damaged areas."

She jumped around the room a few times. She had made a magic stone and one day she was going to be the best jewel crafter ever!

"Now, remember we used a soft stone for our first practice," he reminded her, "so it will easily become scratched if you don't take care of it. Why don't you leave it here for now, and I'll see about finding a nice cloth pouch to keep it protected in?"

She excitedly told her parents all about her creation that evening, and when she fell asleep, she dreamed about all the special properties her stone might develop one day and the adventures she would have with it.


	2. Chapter 2

As she had done many times before, Lumariae bounced down the path to see what fun she would have with Almas that day. She hummed a little tune to herself, only stopping to briefly pat her favourite stones.

When she got to his workshop, she was surprised to find him sitting motionless on the floor beside his workbench. He looked up at her when she entered the room, and she couldn't understand the expression on his face but she knew that it frightened her.

Hesitating for a moment, she slowly continued towards him and sat down on the floor beside him. He still didn't move or speak, which frightened her more. Unsure of what to do but certain that she should do something, she reached over and patted his arm softly.

That was when he started to cry.

It shocked her so much that she started to cry too, and so she climbed onto his lap, clutching at his shirt and sobbing into his chest. His arms folded around her and began to squeeze her tightly and they both just sat there, crying. Eventually they ran out of tears and so sat hugging in silence. She began to feel calmer as time passed, but she didn't want to move or speak in case she made him cry again.

Finally he broke the silence with a hoarse voice, "I am sorry. Would you like me to get you a drink?"

She nodded against his chest, and he slowly stood up, still cradling her to him. He walked across the room and gently placed her on a stool before moving to another room to fetch the drink. She didn't really want one, but she wanted him to be happy again.

When he returned his eyes were puffy but dry, and while he still looked… not quite right… he gave her a small smile.

She smiled back and accepted the sweetened water he'd brought, taking a few mouthfuls to please him before holding the cup against her lap. He sat down on the stool opposite her.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "Today has been… difficult."

She watched him silently.

He sighed, and then gave her another, slightly wider smile. "I'm really glad that you came today."

"You are?"

He nodded, the smile returning fully. "You helped me to feel better."

The wave of relief that hit her then washed away the last of her fear.

"Why were you sad?"

The strange expression resurfaced briefly, but he closed his eyes for a moment and it was gone.

"I heard something very important today," he said slowly. "I wonder… would you like to come with me on a secret mission?"

That sounded exciting! "What kind of mission?"

He poked her ribs playfully. "A secret one, silly!"

She giggled and poked him back. "Okay, what do I have to do?"

"You just have to meet me here at midnight in a couple of weeks, and then we'll have an adventure together!"

She paused. "That's very late. Mama won't let me."

His mouth twitched, and then he stroked his chin and tentacles, thinking.

"This mission is very important, I don't know if I can do it without you… how about I talk to your parents and get permission from them?"

"If they say yes, then that would be okay," she agreed. She was glad he'd offered to talk to them. He'd get them to say yes, and then she could go on an adventure! It sounded like she would have an important job to do, too!

"But," he held up a finger, "it is very, very important that this stays a secret, otherwise I will get in a _lot_ of trouble. So don't tell anybody, not even your parents, okay? I'll talk to them first when I see a good chance."

"I promise I won't tell anyone!"

She didn't want Almas to get in trouble. She didn't want him to cry again.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the night of her secret mission! She had been good and kept her secret. Almas had let her know when he'd checked everything with her parents, and there were no problems there. She had agreed not to talk about it with them even after then though, in case spies were listening. When she pretended to go to bed that night, she winked at her mother who laughed and winked back at her. Everything was going well.

Later, she snuck out of the house quietly so as not to wake any spies, and hurried to Almas as quietly as she could.

He was pacing back and forth in the dark when she got to him, and when he saw her he gasped and ran over to her, crushing her into a hug.

"You're late!" he said in an unusually high voice.

"I'm sorry, I fell asleep for a bit but I didn't mean to. I'll be a good adventurer now though, I promise!"

He made a strangled noise and his legs seemed to quiver briefly, but then he let her go.

"We need to go. Now!"

He picked up a small pack, threw it onto his back, and took her hand, pulling her forwards. They walked through the city at a fairly slow pace, but Almas looked like he was straining to go faster.

"Do you want to run?" she asked helpfully.

His hand flew to her mouth, stopping itself just before it made contact. She flinched away from him.

"Sorry little one," he whispered, "but we have to be quiet for now. Maybe we can run when we're outside the city."

She was becoming frightened again, but she followed along in silence. A good adventurer had to be brave.

Her legs were starting to hurt by the time they'd finally left the last of Mac'Aree's houses behind them.

"Do you still think you can run?" Almas asked her.

She didn't want to run or even walk anymore, but she nodded anyway. As it turned out, she didn't have to run for long. Despite her best efforts her little legs couldn't keep up, so Almas picked her up and ran for both of them. She hadn't meant to, but she soon began falling asleep again. She wasn't used to being up so late.


	4. Chapter 4

When she woke again, she was sitting astride Almas' shoulders with her arms held in place around his neck. It was very cold. Looking around, she gasped to see that they were part way up a mountain that was dotted with patches of snow.

Almas gave her arm a squeeze and asked how she was doing.

"I'm cold, and hungry."

"Let us stop for a moment then," he replied.

A moment was all he allowed them, but in that time Lumariae had been wrapped up in a big cloak and given some bread. Then Almas lifted her back up onto his shoulders and she ate the bread while sleepily surveying her surroundings. She had a good view from up where she was, and she'd never been up a mountain before. Maybe they were going to a secret snow cave to meet someone important.

"Not long now… not long now." Almas muttered quietly. He was breathing heavily, but he kept up a steady pace. The sky began to purple, and the patches of snow became bigger until they had to wade through unbroken white. Tracks had already been made though, making progress easier than it could have been.

By the time they reached the summit of the mountain, the sun had begun to climb up the sky to catch them. They were also met by a huge group of people that watched them warily as they approached. One man detached from the group to greet them.

"Almas! I'm glad you could make it!" he beamed, clapping Almas' shoulder and turning to walk back to the crowd with them. "But who's this?" he asked, looking at her in a way she didn't like.

"A young one I've been teaching in my workshop. She won't cause any trouble."

"Hmmm," the man didn't sound convinced. "Where are her parents?"

Having made it to the group, Almas lifted her from his shoulders and sat himself down on a rock, patting the space next to him for her to join him.

"Almas… where are her parents? What if she's told someone?" the stranger persisted. He kept his voice low, but he sounded a bit angry. Lumariae decided she didn't like him very much.

Almas sighed and began holding his head in his hands. He was tired, so the man should leave him alone.

"I haven't told anyone about the secret mission, if that's what you mean," she asserted, crossing her arms and raising her chin defiantly.

"Her parents are still in their beds, Danar. She wouldn't have made it out to me last night if she had told them."

Danar's eyes widened at this, and it seemed all he could do was stare at her for a time.

"You snuck away?" he eventually asked her.

She nodded.

"And you know why we're here?"

"For the secret mission," she frowned. He was being very stupid.

Almas just shook his head sadly beside her, which finally seemed to get Danar off their backs.

The stranger sighed. "There's nothing to be done about it now. But if we've been discovered…"

"We won't be." Almas promised.

After Danar left, the two of them sat in silence for a while to let Almas catch his breath. He looked very tired, and she suddenly felt guilty that he'd had to carry her so much.

"Am I ruining the mission?"

"No! No, no, little one. I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are here. I just want you to be safe." He took one of her hands and gave it a squeeze.

"Will we be able to go home soon? Even though Mama said yes, I bet she's worrying about me."

"Be strong, little one," was all Almas said, and that wasn't even a proper answer. All this sitting around was getting boring.

She'd just jumped off the rock to find something to do when people started to scream. Almas scrambled to his hooves, trying to see over the crowds. His face paled, and he grabbed her to him. She clung to his leg, burying her face into it and planning to stay there until the screaming had stopped. This wasn't what she wanted.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of bright light, which drew her gaze upwards despite herself. The light then shattered into seven colours which sped apart, circling the group. Not long after, a glittering screen formed between the lights, joining them together and encasing the crowd completely.

"Almas!" Danar roared.

"It wasn't her! I promise you, it wasn't her!" Almas cried back, scooping her up and holding her to his chest. She could feel his frantic heartbeat.

Their argument was interrupted by fresh screams, and when she looked up this time she saw the giant crystal hurtling through the sky towards them. She dug her fingers into Almas' arms, shrinking against him, too scared to even cry or look away from their approaching end. But then the massive crystal stopped just above them, and part of it vanished to make an opening. Those in the centre of the crowd began being pulled through the sky somehow, levitating up towards that opening. People started to frantically surge closer to the centre of the group, shoving each other in their haste to join the strange flight. Almas began following the crowd.

"No, I don't want to go in there!" she screamed. "I don't want to go!"

But if Almas heard her, he gave no indication. And so she was carried into the depths of the crystal, kicking and screaming and crying for her mother.


	5. Chapter 5

Years passed. The crystal Lumariae had been carried into on Argus had turned out to be a great ship called the Genedar. It was piloted by strange glowing creatures called the Naaru, who seemed to be made of light itself.

Mere hundreds of Eredar had made it onto this ship, and she was to later learn that they were now the last of their kind.

At first she was told that everyone else had been killed by monsters, but then she learned that it was the Eredar themselves that had become the monsters under the influence of someone called Sargeras.

Almas had lied to her about everything. He had never told her parents anything, only manipulated her into coming with him and leaving them behind to face their unknowing fate.

It had taken a while for that confession to emerge, but when it had, she had run from him and drawn blood biting him when he had tried to stop her. She never spoke to him again.

Centuries passed. The Genedar took them to many different worlds, but the rest of the Eredar were always close behind, chasing them. In the end she had stopped leaving the ship at all, knowing that each stop would only be temporary. Just another thing to leave behind.

She spent her days helping with odd jobs when asked, and brooding alone when not required. Her nights were full of visions of the people she had once known on Argus catching her and giving her a variety of unpleasant endings.

Millennia passed. Each time they stopped at a planet, fewer would return to see the next. No longer feeling any kind of kinship with those that had persecuted them so relentlessly for so long, new names were chosen to separate the two groups of Eredar.

Those that had become monsters were now Man'ari, a word for something foul, something wrong.

Those that remained on the Genedar came to name themselves the "exiled ones".

Draenei.


End file.
